Pillow Talk
by presidentallosaurus
Summary: It seemed impossible to Jane that someone who lived a life as dangerous as A's could have a vulnerability like sleep-talking. It was a liability. Like friends. A had called her a little guardian angel in black, once. Maybe Jane could live up to the name by watching over A through those lines between consciousness and pillows. Modern AU [Stolen Ice by Aesla]. Eventual Elsanna.
1. Chapter 1: Vulnerable

After watching Singing in the Rain, (and deducing that A had a fondness for musicals), Jane had fallen not-quite asleep through the second movie of the night, The Wizard of Oz (the Ultimate Collector's Edition, of course). She was pulled back to conciousness by a sting of pain near her ankles, causing a bleary gaze at the screen. The strange collection of clearly-costumed actors and Judy Garland were struggling in a field of poppies.

Jane became acutely aware that A's arm was laying across the top of her ankles. A was asleep as well, no doubt tuckered out from a day especially full of mothering Jane and performing domestic tasks. It sent a feeling of .. discomfort? through Jane. She wrung her hands together, the faded-bluegreen flavored gloves rubbing against each other uncomfortably.

Her toes curled slowly, pressing against A, but A only murmured and Jane couldn't bring herself to wake A, even if the girl was unconsciously holding her feet captive. A few minutes ticked by as sloshy bags of shaved icy dripped over her aching muscles. One by one Jane removed the bags and prepared to extract herself from A- she could handle a wall of lasers, surely she could handle A's sleepy grasp.

A stirred just before Jane began to move and Jane froze. A sighed, yawned, and adjusted herself. Jane could feel her toes pressing into A's cleavage. It was not altogether an unpleasant experience, if she were honest with herself, but nevertheless her cheeks began to burn.

Then A began to mumble.

"Hi, diddle diddle, my baby's okay..." She muttered, soft as pillows. Jane recognized the lyrics from Singing in the Rain. Despite being asleep and mumbling A's voice had a pleasing, even sweet ring to it. "Ask me a riddle and what did she snaaauuugh..." Mostly.

Jane wasn't sure how to react. She knew of somniloquy but it seemed far from the top of the list of traits for a con woman to safely have.

"A?" She whispered. "A, are you awake?" Her question was rewarded with a mumble that she couldn't make out. "You are talking to yourself."

"...m'not..." A breathed, fingers curling against Jane's ankle. It made Jane pause.

"Yes, you are."

"..nope.." A yawned. She began humming almost inaudibly.

Jane considered the situation. Was A messing with her? Was she really talking in her sleep? There was just no way someone who lived like A had this kind of vulnerability, no way she'd survive.

"..why are you doing this?" Jane pushed, a slight edge to her voice.

"..not doing anything.."

"Yes, you are." Jane repeated, biting her lower lip. "Do you do this with everyone?" She said, a quiet accusation.

"..nope.. laid awake the whole night through.." A sang.

That was improbable. More lyrics? Maybe A's brain was just recycling the day's memories and A repeating them. It seemed too deliberate to Jane. Whatever level of conciousness A was on, Jane was starting to consider that A was indeed both asleep and responsive. It made her guilty and uncomfortable.

Jane sighed and turned her attention back to the screen. Flying monkeys made as much sense as her situation did at that moment. She wrung her hands together. Her makeshift gloves crinkled. They were a bit tight but they'd loosen up. They weren't the right color, though. A had selected turqoise. Jane had wanted black. She'd be happy to have her own gloves back, but..

"Why'd you pick out such a bright color?" Jane muttered at A, not really expecting an answer.

"..diamonds..."

"What?"

"Jane likes diamonds.." A nodded in her sleep and her head leaned into the side of the chair. A tiny bit of drool was collecting on her bottom lip.

_She remembered._

The gloves (and A's occasional sounds) did not bother Jane for the rest of the night. Though her body ached at her decision, she also did not extract herself from A's grasp. It seemed right to let A sleep undisturbed, even at the cost of her own. A would scold her in the morning, no doubt. She might even heighten her level of mothering. The corner of Jane's lip curled up.

When the movie ended, Jane turned the lights in the room off with a slight twitch of her hand and settled in. A stirred and yawned.

"..Jane..?" A mumbled.

"Sleep, A." Jane said, closing her eyes and letting thoughts of how, why and trust and sing-song lullabies slip out of mind. She'd be glad to be back in a bed the next evening.

"..mmkay..g'dnight, Jane.."

"Good night, A."


	2. Chapter 2: We Are

_I don't own Frozen. Stolen Ice is Aesla's creation, as are the characters within it._

* * *

A quietly snoozed, her head laid back against the couch back and hands in her lap. Jane sat on the other end of the couch, legs folded under her.

The dull glow from the muted TV screen mixed with the dim grey light the storm outside let through. The sun had set, but a full moon kept an eerie, quiet light from behind the clouds. The rain brought up fog in the lake, which spread to the woods and enveloped A's house in Natchitoches.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Rain tapped on the windows. It masked the sound of Jane's tapping on her tablet. The tablet A had gotten for her. It wasn't as thin as she'd like it to be, and had unnecessary accessories like a CD player and external plugs. A had supplied earbuds with the tablet, along with three mixed CDs. Jane had spent the rest of the day on the outside balcony listening to a mixed selection of songs by "MJ", as A lounged (tanning, she called it) nearby. Jane's favorite so far was titled _Black or White._

A surprised her the next day with a tablet matching the exact specifications Jane said she preferred. Jane surprised herself by turning it down. A feeling she recognized as sentiment stopped her from accepting it. _Liabilities. Inefficiency._

_Why isn't that bothering me as much as it should?_

She had kept her attention divided well enough between the tablet and the TV when A was awake in order to keep up with conversation, but with A asleep Jane didn't feel the need to keep up with the plot of Game of Thrones. A would explain everything next episode anyways. She tabbed through link after useless link, trying to track Hans' aliases, checking news feeds, browsing airline passenger lists. Even with the return to New York planned in two days she felt compelled to continue her search. A had surely noticed Jane's divided attention, but hadn't said anything. Jane hadn't expected her to, either. Without it needing to be said A knew when it was or was not okay to prod Jane, reading Jane's mood (or body, Jane noticed occasionally) subconsciously, it seemed. She really was the perfect hostess.

_I hope I can be as good a hostess while we're in New York._

Jane sighed and set the tablet down, stretching her torso and arms upwards. Her ribs had finally stopped complaining about her exercises. The movement stirred A, who adjusted slightly but did not wake. Jane caught herself glancing at A, taking note of the girl's denim shorts, a frequent choice of wear. It was also frequently on Jane's mind, she noticed, while A was wearing them. Something to take note of, she decided. Picking up her tablet again, she opened a word document and began typing a new journal entry through gloved fingers.

Typing on her tablet in front of a muted screen as it rained outside, grey light inside and grey light out, Jane could feel the muted pressure of loneliness filling the room.

"..mm.." A murmured, and Jane twitched. "..mm.." A murmured again, her head shaking slightly. Jane couldn't read A's face, but the girl looked bothered. Unhappy? "..won't bring your money back.."

Jane sighed. "A, you're sleep-talking again." She wasn't sure what kind of response she was expecting.

"..you're upset.." A mumbled.

"No." Jane replied, lowering her voice. "I'm not."

"Comrades, remember.."

"Sure. Comrades." Jane returned to typing on her tablet, somewhat grateful for A's nonsensical mumbling. It was like training wheels for conversation.. a crutch that made things easy and painless but would have to be abandoned once the time came.

"We were going to be friends, Jane..." _So much for painless_. Jane felt the mood turn troubled, turning to look at A. A's cheek twitched, and the girl shuddered. Instinctively A brought in her limbs, as if she were suddenly cold. Jane could see moisture collecting under A's eyelids... a thin trail threatening to break free.

_What do you say to someone sleeping and crying?_

Jane was completely out of her element. A was being unconsciously candid. It stirred Jane to offer her own bit of hopefulness.

"...we _are_, A. We _are_ going to be friends."

"A pipe dream..." A whispered, her head coming forward and the thin trail of a tear slipped down her cheek. Jane recognized her own words, thrown in A's face in Ursula's office. Was A dreaming about that moment? She could remember A's face. A kept whispering. "I would never, you would never..."

_But I did._

She had read it in A's face. Now it appeared like a ghost, traces of it found in the face of the girl beside her. Jane thought she'd left the moment behind. Acknowledge and move on. A had agreed, saying nothing. Her subconscious seemed to think differently. A was having a nightmare- no, a troubled dream, Jane assured herself. Just a troubled dream.

What was it that A had done when Jane broke down, weeping in front of her? The girl had gathered her up in her arms, let Jane clutch at her, sniffle, sob. Jane gathered up her courage, watching A, making a plan of attack, executing it with care.

She gently slid a hand around A's head and grasped her shoulder, pulling the girl slowly onto her side, until A's head was nestled up against Jane's leg, nearly in her lap but thankfully not- that would have been too much for Jane right now.

Jane rested a gloved hand on A's shoulder and squeezed- that was what you did, right?- her other hand gently thumbing the tears off A's face. It took a few minutes, but soon A was sleeping soundly right as rain again. The tactile sensation of A's cheek on her thigh didn't even bother Jane. In fact Jane felt.. satisfied. Content. She returned to her tablet and took care to be as quiet as she could. It would be a few more hours until before her own internal clock would call for rest. The spectre of loneliness did not return.

Tomorrow would be their last chance before the bright lights of city nights would illuminate the stars away. She would take A up to the roof and they would stargaze until sleep called them inside.


	3. Chapter 3: Albireo

_I don't own Frozen. Stolen Ice is Aesla's creation, as are the characters within it._

* * *

"That one is Cygnus, the Flying Eagle." Jane said, pointing towards it while lowering her binoculars. "See how those stars make two connecting lines?"

"You mean a cross?" A lightly teased. She had her arms behind her head, attentively listening to Jane, though her expression was more relaxed than enthusiastic.

"Sure. The stars around it are its wings. _That _star is alpha Cygni, also known as Deneb, Arab for tail. It's one of the three points of the summer triangle. The other two are Altair of Aquila, and Vega of Lyra." Jane gestured, then gave A her binoculars. "Go ahead, take a look."

"O-kay, but you're going to have to guide me again." A said, placing the binoculars above her eyes and squinting in the direction Jane pointed.

"It's the brightest star in the Northern Cross." Jane said. "See it?"

"Mm-hm. Hey, there's a double star in the constellation. One's... yellow, the other's blue."

"That's beta Cygni, or Albireo."

"Al-bir-eo." A repeated. "I like it. One's sapphire, one's gold."

_Like us._

Jane paused at the thought and lowered her hands onto her belly, allowing her head, which was protected by a beanie, to rest against the rooftop edges.

"I think it's my favorite so far." A said, aware of Jane's pause and its potential.

"There's a lot more-"

"No, no, that's okay. I now know the summer, winter, and autumn constellations." A waved the binoculars for dramatic effect. "Let's leave the rest of the sky for another time." She looked over to Jane and grinned.

"You're implying there will be other times."

A nodded to herself, as if saying, '**no, duh'**. "That was the implication... yeah. Where'd you pick all this up?"

"I assume you mean my interest and not how I obtained the information."

"You have interests!" A teased. "I guess there's a person wrapped up in there after all, huh?"

"I- what?"

"You're not just, you know, a yoga master terminator clad in a Jane.. skin. Though that would be kind of cool, I won't lie."

Jane's expression revealed her confusion.

"Oh, man, okay, the next time we get a break, you and I are marathoning the Terminator series. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the T-800, and I bet his character would give you someone to relate to."

"You're suggesting I could relate to a machine."

"Are you saying you don't already? I've seen you with that tablet.." A pretended to wave a tablet around, imitating Jane's voice. "No, no, no, it's okay, it's just a virus, I'll get rid of it quick, hold still, there we go, you're okay.."

Jane blushed and A started giggling. Jane found herself joining in, and the two found themselves sharing what Jane knew was "a moment". Jane gazed at A, and A gazed at Jane. A smiled, and so did Jane.

"This was a great idea." A said. "I, uh, I have something I wanna try out with you, if you're willing, I mean, not try out like _that,_ just something we can do together, not that we're not already doing something together, I mean it's just something I thought of and-"

"Breath, A. I get it. What's your idea?"

A pulled an iPod out of her pocket, and dug through her pockets, pulling out her earbuds. Jane's expression fell. Was A going to just put on music and suggest they not talk for the rest of the night? Had she bored A?

Her fears were unfounded. A placed the iPod between them, and gestured for Jane to scoot closer. She did so until they were close enough for each of them to put one of the earbuds in an ear.

"Now we can listen to music together." A said. "You know, quietly... We can still talk over it. I thought it would fit the mood better this way."

Jane said nothing, but watched A slowly cycle through a few songs. She could see from the iPod screen that A had stopped on "**Moon River**- Andy Williams." The soft music drifted into her ear, flavoring the soft night.

"So.. I meant to ask you this before we got sidetracked.." A said. "What got you into stargazing? Did you just hop onto a roof and decide to stare at stars one night?"

The heavy silence that followed suggested that Jane's answer was not going to be a complete one.

"...I used to watch the stars from the top of Arabian roofs, back when..." Jane's voice trailed away. "Someone.. got me into it. There were a lot of nights where I'd watch them after sunset, before it got too cold. The night sky was so clear.."

Jane fell silent. A quietly fingered the iPod, rotating to the next song.

"My life is brilliant..."

Jane turned her head to look at A, who was singing softly along with the song.

"My life is brilliant. My love is pure. I saw an angel. Of that I'm sure."

A smiled weakly at Jane. Jane smiled back. A slid her finger as she turned up volume, and the two returned to gazing at the stars as James Blunt sang.

"You're beautiful!" A sang out loud. "You're beautiful, it's true."

Jane listened, and although A's voice lacked the perfunctory perfection of the recording, it had a quality of its own. It was sweet. Even though she sang high, her voice was melodically candor. Pure and honest emotion..

"There must be an angel with a smile on her face,  
when she thought up that I should be with you."

But A did not sing the next lines, her voice faltering. The only voice singing was James Blunt's, coming from the earbuds, as the two girls looked at each other.

_"But it's time to face the truth,_  
_I will never be with you."_

Jane's eyes flicked away from A to the stars, her face stoney. A looked down and away as well, an awkward, unpleasant silence stretching out between them.

It was Jane who spoke first.

"I didn't like that song."

"Me neither." A said, her face a mask.

"It's getting late. I need to be rested to fly tomorrow." Jane said, getting up. "I'll see you in the morning, A?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you will."

Jane slid down the roof and dissapeared. A waited for the sound of the balcony door opening and closing.

A tugged the earbud from her ear and grabbed the iPod, throwing it as hard as she could away from the house.


	4. Chapter 4: Clever

_I don't own Frozen. Stolen Ice is Aesla's creation, as are the characters within it._

* * *

The first thought that entered Jane's mind was how nice it was to finally be back in her own bed. The second thought was how nice it was that A found her bed as comfortable as she did. It pleased her, in some strange sense of reciprocity. She hadn't realized until tonight that she cared about A enjoying her sleep, but after all the time she'd spent in one of A's spare beds, it had somehow become important to her. Like bacon-scents and cronuts. Everything would come together.

Pleased with her results and looking forward to the morning (When did that start happening?), Jane felt so, so ready to drift into the relaxing void of sleep.

"Jane?" A mumbled. "You're a lemur."

_"W-what?"_ Jane sputtered, trying to keep her voice down. "No I'm not."

"uh huh..." A shifted under the covers, laying on her back. The covers were tight against her; Jane could see the faint raise and fall of A's torso supplemented by the modest curvature of A's chest. She was taking notice of these things a lot, Jane realized. It was making her chest feel warm. It was also rather distracting.

"Well, you're a... a fox." Jane said lamely.

"Aw, thanks...snaugh..."

_Wow, Jane, you're bantering with someone asleep and somehow still losing._

"..mm...thighs.. knees.. fingertips.." A murmured, then sighed happily.

"Sssh, A. Sleep." Jane instructed, taking deep breaths. Sleep was coaxing her forward. She stretched her legs and relaxed. A shifted again, laying on her side, this time facing Jane.

"...ass..."

Jane didn't have too much time to process that one, as A's hand flopped across her belly button, bare skin pressing against bare skin and her palm sliding over Jane's side, fingers curling into alabaster. Jane's belly was being hijacked for cuddling. She never imagined that another woman would touch her this way. She hadn't imagined anyone would ever be touching her this way again, but it was A. Her mind cringed, her heart beat heavily, and her body... tingled.

"...win me a fox at the carnival... kay...?"

Jane rolled her eyes lazily and closed them. Images of bright lights and games and rides played out, scenes from movies pieced together. A was beside her in every one of them.

"As you wish." Finally, silence stretched out comfortably between them.

One of A's eyes opened, peeking up at Jane, and a smile passed over her lips like water rippling. She closed her eye and gave the faintest of squeezes to Jane's midsection.


	5. Chapter 5 : Pulses

"A? Are you awake, A?" Jane whispered, slipping through the crack of the grandiose door to A's bedroom at the Heritage Hotel. There was no response. A had drawn the window curtains so that the early morning light wouldn't filter in, leaving the room in near total darkness, save for a small lamp near the bed. It illuminated a small portion of the bed, including A's body, through the lavender drapes. A breathed uneasily, and the state of her covers suggested severe physical unrest as well.

Jane slipped around to the opposite side of the half-canopy bed, moving like a ghost behind lavender curtains. Wearing nothing but one of her plain black shirts over plain undergarments, she still felt less exposed than A looked at that moment. It sent a few pangs of guilt through Jane, but she was certain she wouldn't wake A if A was asleep, and she took comfort in the fact that she knew A well enough to be certain. She parted a drape and slipped atop the bed carefully, slowly settling herself on her back with her head and shoulders lifted by a pile of pillows.

"A." She said quietly, listening close. She was rewarded with an equally quiet mumble.

Jane wasn't sure why she was doing this. She only knew that it had felt overwhelmingly oppressive in her enormous bed, alone with her thoughts. She wanted to talk, but A was obviously going to be asleep. It was confusing for Jane. She didn't know what she was doing. especially around A. She just did what felt natural because, well, it felt natural, and it felt good to be doing something that felt natural. She'd thought of A and her sleep talking, and... well, it seemed natural to sneak into her friend's room while she slept, crawl into bed with her, and whisper. Maybe it was only natural for someone as unnatural as her.

"...Jane..?" A mumbled. A rush of warmth spread through Jane's chest. A was thinking of her.

"A." Jane said. "Hi."

"...sleep..." A began to stir, but Jane reached out and touched A's shoulder gently, and A stilled once again. It was so easy to just reach out and press her fingers into A. For a brief moment, Jane wondered what it would be like without her gloves. Pressing her thumbprint into A's shoulder. She imagined it leaving a mark- her mark- and the thought made her toes curl. Unfamiliar feelings.

"Shhh." Jane lowered her voice. Like she did in Natchitoches, Jane let her hand squeeze A's shoulder. A relaxed. What was she here for? To... talk? Is that what she wanted?

_Where do I begin? What am I supposed to say?_

"I'm sorry." Jane said, her voice like a distant thunder. Almost inaudible, but still resonating. "For..." She sighed, voice caught. "Everything. " Words tumbled out slow but steady, and Jane watched herself, a bystander to a crack in a dam.

"You.. um. Amsterdam. Hans. All of this. My fault." Proper sentences were discarded in favor of a stream of thought. "Could have done this all alone. Couldn't have- should have- didn't want to leave you behind." Jane took a shaky breath. "Dragged you into this ...mess... control. Not a child. Stop babbling." A deep sigh. "I should have just stayed back and written in my journal as I've always done... but I wanted to be near you. It feels easy to be near you. Did you notice? When we were spinning and holding each other. I think... I think I drew you closer. Didn't look away. What does that mean? What does _this_ mean? Why do you make everything so complicated for me?" Jane complained.

A was breathing easily now, a tiny smile on her face. Was Jane's mere presence comforting to A? There were just too many questions that Jane didn't know the answers to.

Jane's thoughts shifted. "I'm going to take something from here, you know." She said, matter-of-factly, like she imagined A would say it. "This place, it's... it's going to be a memory, isn't it? I'm going to need something to remember it by." She gave A's sleeping posture a sad grin. "Just a little theft."

"...dirty girl..." A mumbled, yawning.

_What is she dreaming of this time? A con?_

"You're not a dirty girl." Jane reassured her, her voice like cleansing raindrops. "You're.. very clean. The real you." _Still a virgin._ She was dirtier than her, Jane thought bitterly.

"...must not be flirting right..." A adjusted, her back flat and her head sinking into a pillow.

She mentioned Amsterdam was one of her first big jobs with Han. He must have taught her everything she knows.. well, not everything. Hans knows nothing of A's natural charm, and- _and her natural allure._

Jane's face flushed so hard that she pressed her hands to her cheeks in an attempt to cool them down. The lamp providing the only light in the room began to flicker.

"...easy, Jane, you're going to explode my night light." A muttered.

The light surged, then popped.

_She's awake?!_

"And there it goes.." A sighed. "It's okay, still proud of you."

"You- A- how long have you been awake?"

"I was only sort of asleep when you slid into my bed." A responded quietly.

"You.. you heard everything?"

"...most of were very quiet. If I had actually been asleep I don't think you would have woken me." A smiled a crooked grin. "You're quite considerate for a bed-sneak."

"I-I-I'm sorry, I can-" The distant ceiling light began to pulse.

"Jane." A reached out and took Jane's gloved hand, resting her hand atop. The light stopped pulsating immediately. A rustled around for something and tapped a button- her little phone lit up, its small glowing ambiance enough for the two to see each other. "It's okay. kind of weird, but I'm okay with it."

"Like me?"

"Like you. It's okay to be nervous. We're not in Kansas anymore."

"You mean Louisiana- oh, The Wizard of Oz. Um."

_Make a reference._

"This isn't Emerald City, though." Jane said.

"Far from it." A responded. "Lots of dancing, though. A few munchkins. Plenty of locked doors and men behind curtains." A sighed. "And the wizard is a sick son of a..." She mumbled the rest of her expletive.

There was silence for a few minutes. It felt uncomfortable at first, but as A said nothing, and nothing happened, the silence became more and more comfortable. Jane almost felt like she could fall asleep here.

"I, um... I should get back to my own bed." Jane said, stirring.

"Aw, you don't hafta..." A mumbled. "But yeah, go ahead."

Jane began to shift herself off the bed, but A's hand suddenly turned firm on Jane's, stopping her. "Wait. You don't have to be sorry for anything. Okay? We're cool."

"... I'm sorry I implied you were a.. back in St. John's. Before I knew you were a.." Jane let the sentence drift.

A let out a wry chuckle. "You really do care, don't you?" She mumbled, more to herself than Jane.

"Apathy is the worst sin." Jane responded. "And, around you, I can't... _not._" She wrung her hands and tried to find something else to look at in the dark, but couldn't. So she looked at A, who was leaning up with an expression that Jane couldn't read, but it was soft, like pillows and holding hands and bed time conversations.

"Jane, it's okay. We're cool. Okay? We're cool. Come here." A pulled Jane down to her face. Jane obliged, and was rewarded with the sensation of a puckered muscle pressing lightly to her cheek. The ceiling light did not even flicker.

"Bed-time kiss." A explained. "Go sleep."

Jane laid there for a moment, considering, considering, and then decided she was too tired to consider anything else tonight. At least her nighttime trip fulfilled its purpose- she could finally drift off to sleep without thoughts keeping her awake. They were all gone now, cast out into the darkness, where A and Jane weren't.

"..Good night, A." Jane said, her voice hardly audible.

"Good night, Jane. Have a good night's snaaaaaaaaugh..."

Though Amsterdam loomed ahead, the two thieves stole a few hours of undisturbed rest from the morning.


	6. Chapter 6: Touching

_I don't own Frozen. Stolen Ice is Aesla's, as are the characters within it._

* * *

Jane slammed the tablet down after yet another almost-connected connection suddenly shut down as if Jane herself had zapped the power. Connection lost. The lights in the room briefly surged on and the heater died. Again. She hated that detail the most. A was affected by the Scotland weather and though she never complained, Jane could read the chill on her lips, the discomfort in her limbs. It was hard to stop herself from staring at A sometimes, though A never seemed to notice. Everything about A was so... physical now. The heater's death would mean a brief chill in the room for A, discomfort that was her fault. The intensity of her thoughts was like a storm that was suddenly much closer than previously thought, quiet rumbles turning into booms and threatening to drown her. The way she turned from thought to thought was like torrential winds, buffeting her back and forth

She wondered if destroying the supermagnet would be worth it. She almost relished thinking about it, planning the execution. She would tear it apart piece by piece until it was laid like scattered legos at her feet. The thought momentarily startled her with the pure clarity of her anger, and the realization she'd been fantasizing about destroying something with her powers.

_When did I become a super-villain?_

Disturbed by the intensity of her own emotions, Jane chose to attempt her pre-sleep exercises within the confines of the hotel room, focusing on the heater the entire time. Giving it just a little more juice, pushing it a little harder than she should've, but still careful not to push it into breaking. Her focus during her exercises and the brief emptiness of her thoughts gave her the control she needed. Pulling her legs in from inverted leaning, Jane slowly lifted a hand from the floor, holding herself up on one hand while the heater pulsed.

_That's good enough. A should be more comfortable now, I hope._

Discarding her clothes, Jane hesitated to take off her shirt, choosing to leave it on. It would take her some time to unwind and her muscles to relax enough to fall into sleep. That meant another brief time of Jane awake and A asleep in the same bed. It was almost tradition at this point. A's assurance that it was "weird, but okay" had removed most of Jane's concerns about natural or comfortable behavior and she simply acted as she felt compelled to. She climbed into bed across from A and...

Very carefully she leaned over and checked on A. Was A awake? She was breathing quietly. She didn't react to Jane's face suddenly being remarkably close to her own, nor to Jane waving her hands in front of A's face. A light poke only caused a quiet burble. She was drooling again.

Jane sighed and hesitantly brought a hand up to A's face, stroking a glove slowly across A's bottom lip, cleaning up the drool. She was not unaware of the intimacy of the action, and caught herself staring intensely at A's lips. A's lips. _A's lips._

All at once she shifted herself back into place like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, quickly wiping her thumb off on her shirt and locking her fingers together above her belly tightly.

_Physicality._

A freckled arm suddenly came across her midsection, as A adjusted in her sleep, unconsciously aware of Jane's presence somehow and drawn to her. Jane delicately pulled A's hand off her belly and placed it on the covers.

No touching. No internet. No movies. No sound but silence. It was a rare occasion that Jane found herself without sensation at her fingertips. There was comfort in the light of a computer screen, the tapping of a keyboard, the whirring of a fan. What do you do with silence?

Her dozy thought was interrupted by a slight shuffling noise. A was twitching in her sleep, her fingers digging into the covers, her hairs raising. A was growing heated in her sleep, her face a broken mirror of disgust and fear. Jane recognized it. The tightness of the lips. The slight exposure of teeth, the cheeks twitching, eyes flicking. It was the fear of an animal cornered. The heat in the room suddenly felt unwelcome. Jane wished that she could somehow cool the room down.

This was not troubled sleep. This was a nightmare. She felt helpless, watching A squirm, fearing that waking her would only disrupt her sleep and cause her discomfort through the next day. Jane didn't want that.

She pressed a hand to A's shoulder. A familiar movement for her now, but it didn't help. A's dreams could not be quelled by gloved hands and soft whispers, not this time.

"...non... non...où est ambien..." A's voice spoke French, but was A's simple, easy voice, caked in fear. It was like someone had unmasked A during one of her performances and she had kept going, the same words that her trained accent and perfect charm would say, but without her trained accent and perfect charm.

"S'il vous plaît... prendre un verre..."

_A needs comfort. I have to act. I have to do something._

"Bien sûr, il est entré." A's face cringed with disgust and a bead of sweat formed on her forehead. Jane began to seriously consider shaking A awake. Nothing could be worth having to go back there again for A.

Jane felt the same desperation she imagined A was feeling, trapped inside a memory.

_What would A do?_

Three weeks blurred past Jane in a frenetic frenzy, memories and sounds blotting together. Shapes replaced by strokes of color, like one of A's paintings, except A, in every memory, remained distinct, an image atop the canvas, interacting with Jane.

A would push against her shoulder, help her stand if she was even in the slightest pain. A would give her Neosporin and ice packs. A would smile at her to ease Jane's discomfort. She'd hold Jane if Jane cried. A would drown for her, let Jane almost _kill her,_ and not even _care_ afterwards... enduring even near-death experiences like she was getting the better end of the deal. Jane felt a painful pang of wonder and awe, looking at the fragile yet impossibly strong woman beneath her.

Enduring even Jane as if she were getting the better end of the deal.

_What could A do..._

Jane's eyes widened.

A would teach the neglected children to sing on a mountain.

"Doe..." Jane started, speaking softly over A's whispers, biting her lower lip and forging ahead. "Ray. Me. Fah."

Like a cold wind quieting, A was relaxing.

"So la ti doe..." Jane finished. She took a deep breath, and began again.

"Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do..." She sang, her voice full of breath and nerves and touchings. Again she sang the scale, repetition building courage, A's reactions building security. She sang clearly, now, with as much... care, as she could manage. It felt dangerous and frightening and yet her voice was clear and strong as diamonds.

_"Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do..."_

A had stopped squirming, and no longer looked heated, though her face still held traces of Amsterdam upon it. Jane briefly and wildly imagined kissing the traces away.

Her voice caught in her throat, but she managed to hum the scale. And the next repetition, she didn't speak the words, just sang the scale. Singing to A in her underwear and t-shirt, in a lonely hotel room in Scotland, A's nightmare passed. Jane's voice quieted, but the scale remained. It had lodged itself in her throat and refused to stop humming, escaping her lips as she gently brushed her fingers over A's hair, loosening A's cover, letting chill and warmth in parts until she was satisfied A would be comfortable.

She laid flat on her back next to A, and her chest ached. She tugged her shirt off and let it drop beside the bed, sliding under the covers and counted minutes as Morpheus entered her veins.

Somehow, A found her way to Jane's side. Jane gently pulled A's arm over her belly and let the girl's head rest on her shoulder. A would hold her. _That's what A would do_. So she let herself hold A, just for now. When fingers curled into her side and she felt lips brushing slightly over her collarbone, she didn't even care.

She was still humming when she fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Knots

_I don't own Frozen, and Stolen Ice and its characters belong to Aesla._

* * *

_Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do..._

A stirred as the smell of bacon filled her dreams, becoming aware that she was asleep, then rising from the haze into awareness. It was like waking up in the movies- she could feel sleep pull itself away from her, each new _real_ sensation like a paint brush of the mind, creating the waking world stroke by stroke. Cracking an eye open, her view was filled with pale, flawless breast. Her cheek rested on Jane's arm, and she had an iron grip on Jane's midsection. Jane's hand was on top of her wrist. Also, Jane's shirt was missing. _Why is Jane's shirt missing?_ Irrelevant at the moment. She could hear Jane breathing, feel her breathing, feel _mint_ over her face. She took a deep breath of it, and she felt alive.

For a few minutes A basked in simply being awake, unfamiliar with the sensation occuring without a lifeline of coffee and having sleep drip off her like ice. She could bounce out of bed and start her day singing if she wanted to. If only she wasn't bedlocked with flawless skin and mint.

_Why is Jane's shirt missing?_

Guilt welled up inside A abruptly like a poked bruise. She shouldn't be seeing this. She didn't deserve it. She hadn't earned it. Sure, she had seen it before- but that thought brought thoughts of Amsterdam, and that brought more guilt. Despite being surrounded by dreamlike, perfect sensations, she couldn't feel sicker.

She released her fingers from Jane's sides -_oh god her abs-_ and attempted to pull her arm off, but Jane's hand was on top her wrist. Her motion caused Jane's fingers to tense and Jane's hand squeezed. The woman murmured and shifted onto her side, facing away from A, causing an intricate tangle of limbs and bodies to loosen and tighten, like ropes sliding into a knot. A's cheek slid off Jane's arm, her leg atop Jane's was nudged off by knees turning and legs shifting.

She took A's wrist with her, though.

A's fingers were now pressed underneath Jane's side, her arm wrapped around Jane's middle, and she was sidled up against Jane's back as a result. One of Jane's feet adjusted itself and was now laying atop A's ankle.

A's guilt immediately mellowed with the removal of Jane's more intimate nudity from A's sight, but they were _spooning_ now. But Jane had initiated it. Did that make it acceptable? Had unconcious cuddles become part of the weird-but-okay dynamic they had going at night, and if so, was that still okay after Amsterdam? Normally, upon waking A would disentangle herself from Jane with the same skill she removed paintings from their frames. _Normally_, she was the clumsy mess of limbs that somehow tripped over herself in her sleep onto Jane, and Jane would be graceful and still as a sleeping princess, unreacting.

Both of them being asleep meant an unspoken, uncognizant agreement to lower the barriers between them. A being asleep and Jane awake _had_ meant partially unspoken, partial lowering of those barriers. So, A reasoned, did A being awake and_ Jane_ asleep mean the same?

Only Jane could tell her that, she realized. The same Jane who had untwisted and retwisted them into this position without even realizing she was doing it, damnit. A could untie Jane's knots, but it would wake Jane. A didn't wish the discomfort of an interrupted sleep on Jane, especially, _especially_ if it was her fault.

So she stayed still. She took no conscious action to continue or discontinue the contact. She waited until the smell of bacon faded from the room. She waited until the light began to filter in. She waited until the tension of staying so still was making her muscles ache but she still didn't move. Her perfect awakeness faded into tiredness and then uncomfortable but respectful dozing.

"...how come you gotta be so hot?" A mumbled. "It's like cheating. It's not fair. I can't compete. You wouldn't cling to me if I climbed into bed naked, would you? ...would you?"

_A remembered Jane crying"A-A...A!" through the earplug into her world, as if Jane were there beside her. Calling her name._

A buried her head into Jane's shoulderblade and burned. Okay, now she was uncomfortable and thinking uncomfortable thoughts about her _friend._ Her friend with the perfect physique, electric superpowers, and god, that _mint_ breath.

A desperately needed some alone time in the shower. It was becoming even more uncomfortable pressing against Jane. Muscle tension was now supplemented with desire. It was no longer enough to just be inactive; now she had to will herself not to move, not to touch, not to cuddle. She wanted this moment to last forever and it made her feel guilty and a little twisted. Like a A-shaped knot, all tied up in Jane.

"...maybe you'd be open to the idea of.. friends with... naw.. how would I even bring that up..." A sighed. "Besides, you deserve better. From me. I gotta.. I want to be worth this. But how will I know when.. god, Jane, you're so difficult to read..." An upset sigh turned into a wide yawn and A nudged her head against the pillow and Jane. Static was building up. She felt vaguely aware she was talking to Jane's shoulderblade. It didn't strike her as unusual that she was doing so. She kind of liked it.

It was weird-but-okay. That thought stuck with her. It didn't comfort her completely, but at least she could _hold_ Jane without it needing to be weird. She could want more, but she had to _earn_ it. She tightened her grip and let her forehead rest against Jane. She felt a kind of peace. She was holding Jane. Her arm ached. She was falling in love with the smell of mint and shoulderblades. It was weird, but it was okay.

Three hours after A's bacon alarm had went off, Jane felt the sleep drain from her body, calling her to leave her dreams. Something was tickling the back of her head. A was nestled into her shoulderblade, her arm loosely draped over Jane's belly. Jane moved to pull A's arm off and was surprised by how knotted A's muscles felt. It felt like it must be painful. Her eyes found the dull red glow of the electronic clock. A had slept in. Had the bacon alarm malfunctioned again? She'd need to take a look at it. Something inside of her twinged at the possibility that she might have gotten A a defective gift.

Jane shook her head, trying to clear away the tickling sensation. The knot of Jane and A came free.

As soon as A's arm was loose the redhead flumped sideways onto her back, letting out a tremendous exhale and stirring, slowly rubbing at her bicep and moving like a creaking door. Jane rolled onto her back and started at the sight of enormous redheaded fluff lurking beside her.

_Oh my god, A's hair._

"Good morning, sleepyh- what? What's goin- oh." A said, pulling herself onto her good arm, resting her head on her hand, and looked down amused and blushing at Jane. She was blocking the sunlight, which filtered through her hair like a red, twisting kaleidoscope.

Jane, who was pressing gloved fingers to her lips with a growing smile, tried to restrain a fit of giggling until tears welled up at the sides of her eyes. It was like trying to stop the rain; Jane managed to stop the first few drops but the rest came out pattering like little bells in the morning, filling the cozy little hotel room with unexpected but honest and welcome mirth.


	8. Chapter 8: Banana Bruise

_I don't own Frozen. Stolen Ice and its characters belong to Aesla._

* * *

It was a rainy day, grey like the fjords. The internet was still spotty as hell, and tensions were starting to rise, packed inside the hotel room with nowhere to go. A's contacts in London had yet to get back to her, and without any leads, she was left to rely on Jane, who was relying on a connection that was interrupted constantly and slow even when it was stable. It did not make for a good combination, and nerves were growing prickly.

A relaxed with her iPod on the bed, earbuds plugged in, using a touch piano program to play music. With two fingers tapping back and forth rhythmically on the screen to each song's beats, she sang softly enough that Jane, who was across the room tinkering with the bacon scent attachment, couldn't quite hear her. A understood that Jane needed space and quiet. It kept their prickly nerves from turning sharp and their banter from turning into barbs.

"You and me together, we'll be." A hummed. "Forever, you'll see. Yes, we'll always be good company, you and me.."

In truth, Jane was thankful for the faint background noise as she scanned through the bacon scent attachment's code. It was like the hum of computers, a constant comfort that she was nearby familiar and friendly things.

She didn't understand what was she was reading; the bacon scent had gone off exactly when it was supposed to, according to the information she pulled off the attachment.

_So A simply hadn't gotten up..._

"A?" Jane called out. A kept tapping and humming, so Jane looked around for something soft to throw at her. A banana was sitting nearby from the remains of breakfast. Not that soft, but A had bonked her with sunscreen and lotion once. She tossed the banana. "A!"

A swung around to look at Jane this time, eyebrows raised. She was greeted with the pointy end of a banana colliding into her forehead and bouncing off to the floor with the force of a boomerang.

"Ow!? Jane?!" A pulled the plugs out of her ears. "What the hell?" Her hand went to her forehead. The banana's rough tip had collided just over her right eye near her hairline, leaving a slight mark and a tiny cut smaller than a thumbprint, but blood has a habit of making even the tiniest of injuries appear much worse.

Jane blanched and stood up immediately, guilt cracking her stoic expression like glass. Alarm bells filled her head. She tried to speak, but instead closed her mouth and stared at the red mark on A's forehead. Walking stiffly into the bathroom, she approached A seconds later with a box of bandages and a cloth, her gloved fingers working into the cardboard like it was a stress ball, practically crunching the box.

"I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry." Jane slid next to A on the bed and reached up with the cloth, hesitating as A's hand was still on the mark, holding it. A gave her a sour look and let her hand down, letting Jane slide A's hair back and pat the tiny cut with the cloth. "I'm really sorry."

"There are better ways of getting my attention." A muttered. _Good Company_ was now streaming quietly behind them from her iPod as Jane took out a small bandage and slid it over the cut, pressing firmly. "It doesn't hurt, it's okay."

"It was bleeding." Jane said, unsure if she was explaining or apologizing.

"It's just a little banana bruise. It'll be gone by tomorrow." A reached up and took Jane's hand in her own, bringing it down. "Hehe. You gave me a banana bruise."

"I'm sorry." Jane bit her lower lip.

A sighed and looked over to Jane with a 'R_eally_?' expression written on her face. It softened as she saw Jane's eyes, nervous and unsure.

_Right. Ice Queen. Doesn't know these things aren't a deal._ A chided herself.

"Seriously, it's okay. It's just a tiny bruise, Jane. It doesn't mean anything."

Jane relaxed immediately, releasing a relieved sigh that had been pent up inside her since the banana's impact. A tilted her head, then leaned over and slipped her arms under the taller girl's shoulders, pulling her into a loose hug that Jane hadn't known she'd been wanting, patting Jane's back.

"Social lesson number one: these things don't matter between friends. You can snap at me and throw bananas at me and you don't need to apologize. If I feel hurt I'll _tell_ you, okay?"

To her surprise Jane felt a curious bubble swell up and a feeling that, _yes_, it was okay, stuck in her chest. If A hurt she would tell her. She believed that. She trusted that A would do that. She trusted A. She didn't need to question herself about A's actions and reactions. She just knew that A was genuine.

Jane raised her arms around A's back and squeezed A in return, content to let the new information of _I trust A_ filter through her mind, colouring memories, influencing data. It was binary now. She either trusted A or she didn't, and she did. It gave her a buzz that alcohol had never given her.

A pulled away from Jane, holding the girl's shoulders and looking up into Jane's face.

"Yoooouu just had a whole _moment_ there, didn't you?"

"...Yes." Jane admitted.

"You wanna tell me about it?"

"...not yet. I'd like to process it." Jane replied honestly. A smiled, giving a careless shrug.

"Well, okay. What was it you needed?" A smiled back and let her hands drop into her lap.

"The bacon alarm- it went off at the right time, didn't it? Did it wake you up?"

A's eyes widened and she looked at the floor, cringing. "Uh... yes. Actually, it was the best waking up I've ever woken up with." Jane _beamed_ but A didn't see it.

"Then why didn't you get up?" Jane pressed.

"You didn't let me." A mumbled, fiddling with her fingers. "When I woke up we were, um, cuddling," Jane's eyes widened. "and, you know, we have this thing that we don't speak about even though I'm speaking about it now. Where it's okay to sleep in the same bed because we're adults and you've never had a problem with my sprawling so some things are okay because we're not, like, _doing it,_ it's just happening, and that's why I didn't like, immediately roll off." Deep breath. "But also because I didn't.. I didn't want to wake you up. So I just... held you. For three hours. Until you woke up."

A slid her eyes from the floor up to Jane, grimacing. Jane had a contemplative look on her face, and didn't speak.

"...are... are we cool?" A asked.

Jane nodded satisfied. "I believe you. You didn't mean anything by it. It's weird." She said, and A felt like her heart might plummet into the depths of her stomach. "But, it's okay." She let the words linger in the air, filling the room and soothing any nerves that had risen. The tension in the room washed away like rain drops against windows. A desperately wanted to hug Jane again. The girls shared crooked grins until Jane glanced to her tablet. "I should get back to work."

A nodded, and Jane moved back to the table with her computer, momentarily losing herself in thought and data.

"Hey, Jane?" A called out.

"Yeah?" She replied, focused on the tablet.

"Banana bruise!"

Jane looked up just in time for a banana to bounce off her head.


	9. Chapter 9: Happy

_I don't own Frozen. Stolen Ice and its characters belong to Aesla._

* * *

Jane slid into bed, feeling unusually achy after her pre-sleep routine. A wasn't the only one affected by the Scotland weather, apparently. She rubbed her temples gently, looking at the tablet in front of her, still vainly trying to counteract the disturbance of the giant magnet in the science building below. It was starting to wear on her nerves to the point of feeling raw, and even A couldn't quite tend to her carefully enough to avoid the barbs.

Sliding her eyes over to A's sleeping form, Jane studied her friend quietly. She was curled up, facing away from Jane, clinging to a pillow. The bandage from A's "banana bruise" was drifting half unpeeled, so Jane carefully touched A's forehead and pulled it off as gently as she could manage and was relieved that A didn't stir too much as the adhesive came free. There was no mark underneath- A had been right that the mark was temporary. Jane sighed softly. There was something calming about seeing it for herself, knowing with her own eyes that the moment- _when A had yelled "Damnit, Jane!" her heart had stopped-_ that the moment had passed, that the wound was truly healed.

She paused, realizing that she was still touching A's forehead, fingertips lightly passing over where the mark had been. Adjusting A's hair in her sleep. Almost grooming her. Her hand snapped back and she cringed, annoyed with herself. Shucking her shirt, she slid under the covers and rest her head on the pillows, grateful for the space between her and A at the moment. A would no doubt, inevitably, adjust herself to touch and hold Jane again. Probably even drool on her again, disgustingly.

"...mm... Jane?" A mumbled.

"Yeah, A?" Jane replied quietly, focused on her tablet.

"...Hans..." That name made Jane twitch, and she looked over at A, whose fingers were digging into the pillow she held. "I want out..."

"We _are_ out." Jane assured A.

"Can't live like this anymore... too many people staring at me, not even knowing me, the way they look at me, the way you look at me..." A exhaled with the softest, inaudible whine in her voice.

"No one's going to look at you that way again, A. Ever." Jane was surprised by the steel in her own voice.

"When we're alone... Like you don't even know me..." A whispered.

"Well, who _does_, A?" Jane muttered, exasperated, but was unable to focus on her screen. She wondered if she should be hearing this. Memories... A should have the choice to tell her about them or not, not unwittingly reveal them in her sleep.

"Thought you did, Hans..." A said quietly.

Jane had never felt so violent so suddenly. She wanted to strangle Hans and she wasn't sure if it was for herself or A. She exhaled like she was breathing fire, a burning sensation wretching itself from inside her chest and escaping hot and raw from her throat, a strangled noise emitted as the flames roared past her vocal chords. Every lightbulb in the concievable vicinity flickered dangerously or died, casting them into the dim light of her tablet screen.

Startled, distant murmurs from above and down the hall of the hotel filtered through the door cracks. It took her a moment to regain her composure.

_What just happened?_

"Hans... Who'm I?" A mumbled, sniffling. Through the faint ambiance of her tablet Jane could see the outline of a tear trailing down A's cheek. Jane could feel another blast welling up inside of her, but this time she kept it down, squeezing her hands into fists. She set aside her tablet and leaned over A and waited for a moment for herself to cool down before touching the girl's cheek with the back of gloved fingers.

"Ssh. Ssh. It's okay." Jane whispered, remembering the words A had whispered to her to calm her down. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's okay." A calmed immediately, but her cheeks remained wet and she kept sniffling.

"No it's not..."

"It doesn't matter what Hans thinks. It matters what you think." Jane tried to sound as soothing as possible.

"I don't know what I think..."

"Well, that's something you can find out." Jane said. "...with me, if you want." She added, unable to stop herself. She mentally cursed herself. At least A was asleep and wouldn't remember that slip. She wasn't ready to admit these things yet, even to herself. What was it about talking with A at night that brought these things out of her? It was like her somniloquy was infectious. Maybe it was that she couldn't hold anything A said against her. There was no banter or remarks or mistakes. She was just genuinely being A. That resonated in Jane and made her want to be... genuine, too.

"'Of course with you," A muttered. "Don't want to be alone anymore..." She sighed unhappily, rubbing her cheek into the pillow.

"...you don't have to be anymore, A. Please, calm down. Sssh." Jane rest her hand on A's shoulder. A blindly fumbled in her sleep and grasped it, and Jane squeezed. smiling. Why was falling in care with A just so damn easy?

"...A, do you remember the songs from Sound of Music?" Jane asked suddenly and softly, and A did not respond, eyes squeezing in her sleep. "Sing with me. Doe, rey, mi.." She sang softly, waiting for A, unsure if this would even work.

"...me..." A replied quietly.

"Yes, that's it." Jane encouraged. "Me, fa, so-la-ti-do..."

"So lah tee doe.."

_"Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do..."_  
"Doe...me..so lah..tee doe.."

A's sniffling had stopped. When Jane began again, A's voice, sleepy, mumbled, and distant as it was, joined hers.

_"Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do..."_  
"Do re mi fa so la ti do..."

Together they sang the scale, a simple harmony of A's tired, sweet, easy voice underneath Jane's amateur harmony. Slowly but surely, A's voice began to fade, until it was only Jane singing.

Jane hummed softly, stroking A's cheek to clear it of tears. A quieted and stilled, rolling onto her back, breathing easy. Jane had succeeded in protecting A. Jane sighed with satisfaction. Another emotion that A made too easy to feel.

The sound of music lingered in the air, but the name Hans rested like poison in Jane's mind. She rolled onto her side, studying A in her sleep, wondering what A had been dreaming. If A would tell her about her experiences sometime soon. She would like that.

"...Jane...?" A murmured quietly. Hans name was erased from Jane's mind as she turned to look at A, who looked like she might be stirring awake, yawning and eyelids squeezing.

Jane leaned over and parted her lips, A's forehead just below her, but stopped before contact. She wanted to wait. So instead she lowered her own head gently until her forehead gently tapped against A's. "Sleep." She commanded.

A obeyed.

At some point during the night Jane stirred at a strange sensation in her cheeks. She looked to the side, opening her eyes slowly. A was awake and studying her. She had the 'Chocolate Face'. Jane grinned sleepily, grasped A's hand and slid their fingers together, interlaced. She let their hands rest upon her belly, looked up at the ceiling, and closed her eyes lazily.

_Happy._


	10. Chapter 10: Her Girl

_I don't own Frozen. Stolen Ice and its characters were created by Aesla._

* * *

A cracked an eye open to watch Jane do her post-yoga stretches, pretending to be asleep but in reality she'd been watching her girl work out for the past fifteen minutes.

_My girl._ Anna thought with a smile, unhappy to stop the bubble of happiness that rose up in her chest like a sickeningly sweet treat. She wasn't a schoolgirl- unless the job called for it- yet simple thoughts and actions kept making her feel like she was about to swoon and fan herself. Jane was _her girl._ She couldn't stop herself from releasing a tiny giggle, turning beet red in embarassment when she realized she'd just started giggling because she was thinking of Jane.

"You're awake, A?" Jane called out quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed with her tablet in hand. "Or are you adding giggling to your night-talking repetoire?"

A rolled over to look at Jane and gave her a smile that was so genuine, earnest, and just so A that Jane couldn't help but break out in a smile right back at her.

They were both acting like total dorks and they both knew it. Jane ran a hand through her hair and laid down so that the back of her head nudged up against A's chest. A's arm pulled itself out from under her and slid across Jane's collarbone, grasping her shoulder and squeezing. Jane lifted the hand attached to that shoulder and grasped A's hand, giving a squeeze in return.

"Have fun watching me?" Jane asked.

"A lot." A affirmed. "Especially when you do that whole jedi thing."

"Jedi thing?" Jane inquired.

"You know, when you're holding yourself up on one hand and- oh my god, you haven't seen Star Wars yet, have you?" A gave a quiet laugh. "We're gonna fix that tomorrow. All six movies."

"Mm, I'd like to get a little work done, A..." Jane protested. "Compromise and do three?"

"Mm. Deal." A agreed.

"C'mere and seal the deal, then." Jane murmured, grasping one of A's braids and giving her a light tug. A rolled over, letting Jane's head drop to the mattress, and gave Jane's lips a firm, upside down smooch, letting open mouths sink into each other until lips were locked together, both of them sucking gently on the other's lower lip. Their hands squeezed firmly and Jane snaked her fingers up into A's hair, admiring the dark color of copper in the dead morning light.

Jane had only meant for a single kiss, but as soon as they caught their breath A was pressing back in again, lacking her normal energy but no less hungry. It reminded Jane of the way A ate chocolates before bed time- the way she savored each bite, chewed slowly, smiled contentedly, licking her lips. Licking Jane's lips, swirling her tongue across soft, relaxed muscles, ducking her head in and tasting Jane, and Jane could only shudder underneath A and let A's hunger wash over her.

It was different from their daytime kisses, with A's inhibitions vanished and movements quick. Here, she was slow with sleep, but deliberate, and lacked her usual clumsiness for it.

Jane's eyes were closed when she came up for air, and A bumped their foreheads together. "That was different."

"Good different?" A murmured. "Or b-"

"Just different." Jane said, leaning her head back to nuzzle her nose against A's. "I liked it. I like this side of you. I like all sides of you."

A gave an embarassed laugh, then buried her hands around Jane and squeezed her tight. "I think you're awful, too." She murmured. "I'll try to remember to kiss you more often at 3 am in the morning."

"Mm, not that." Jane said. "Just.. slower. It was good. I like slower."

"You want to take this slower?" A kept the hurt out of her voice but not the surprise. It didn't matter; Jane heard what A was thinking anyways and buried her head into A's neck.

"Yes," She parted her lips and dug her teeth gently into A's skin, giving a little shake of her head. A's eyes shut tight and she _moaned_ softly. Jane made a note of this. "and no." She let go of A's neck, noting the faint outline of a love bite left behind. That made a surge of something inside of her rise to the surface, that same feeling she got when she looked at A's moon-shaped scar, or thought about how A was _her girl_. "I don't want anything less than what you're giving now. I want... all of it. Eventually. And you're going to give it to me, nice, hot..." She breathed over A's neck, kissing her jawline. "...and _slow._"

A swallowed hard. "Yes, ma'am." She whispered. When Jane rest her head in the crook of A's neck A knew that Jane was done with the kissing for the night, and felt a little twinge of dissapointment. It was unfair how Jane could flirt so _hot_ and make it look so easy and A knew that Jane wasn't even trying, just being Jane. A lowered herself so Jane stayed tucked against her, and gently encouraged her to shift into a more comfortable position. Normally A was tucked against Jane's shoulder, but the reverse didn't feel so bad at all.

Jane's fingers found A's hands and slid the gloved digits through A's, interlocking their fingers and squeezing, resting their hands below her chest.

"I love you." A whispered.

"I _know._" Jane murmured back. A couldn't stop a happy giggle again, and Jane couldn't stop smiling in response to hearing it. They settled in, letting the fog of sleep roll in.

"Jane?" A whispered.

"Yea, A?"

"Sing me to sleep?"

Jane didn't even hesitate.


	11. Chapter 11: Hunger

"Mmm." A woke slowly with the smell of bacon, her stomach making a growling noise. This awoke Jane in turn, who had been pressed against said stomach, and caused a slow disentanglement from each other, both parties rising with yawns and sleepy 'good mornings'.

"Long day today." Jane said, covering her mouth to stifle another yawn. "Movies aside. I'd like to get a lot of work done. Is that okay?"

"Aw." A murmured, watching Jane stretch in bed with comfortable delight. "Yeah, I guess so." Jane nodded appreciatively and finished stretching, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking a moment to collect herself. A snuck up behind her on the bed slowly, her weight causing the bed to shift and Jane to look back curiously.

A tickled Jane's sides, resulting in a startled yelp and laugh from the blonde, curling her body away from A's fingers. A made a delighted noise, followed by a tiger-like "Rawr!" as she lunged for Jane's waist, wrapping her arms around her. Jane responded with some tickling to A's side as well, causing a brief retreat.

Panting, the two looked at each other for a few seconds. Jane's hand slowly rose up towards A's side, Jane biting her lip as she watched A's reaction. A waited until Jane was almost at her skin before slapping the hand away, laughing. Jane gasped, then took on a ferocious expression and playful grin, wrapping her arm around A's waist before A wrapped her legs around Jane's hips and wrestling began in earnest.

The sheets and pillows fell off the bed in the scuffle, muffled laughter escaping the two. It was a fair bout until Jane decided to start using her yoga flexibility and strength, after which it was a rout. She threw A against the mattress with her knees pinned against A's sides.

Jane held A's arms down around her head, sliding her hips down A's torso so she could bend over and start planting kisses against A's cheek and jawline, working her way down. A smelled of chocolate and tasted of the tiniest bit of sweat. A giggled at first and tried to turn her head away, tickled by the little pecks. Her laughter subsided when Jane reached her neck, and her breathing quickened as she fell silent with each pressing stroke of Jane's lips.

_Mental Notes: A likes being bit. Let's see if we can get repeatable results..._

Jane gently opened her lips against A's neck and bit down near the shoulder, causing a shuddering gasp to resonate through A. Jane slid a gloved hand behind A's head, gently tilting her up and descending upon A like a vampire, bared teeth giving nips to A's neck, tracing her path back up over A's chin, planting herself in a slow kiss to A's lips. A's hands slid up and around Jane's neck, fingers riding through Jane's hair.

When Jane finally let go of A's lips, she smiled and gave a gentle, puckered kiss to both corners of A's mouth, admiring the way A responded to each with a cute little murmur, searching for more.

"You," A began after she had caught her breath, "spoil me with your kisses."

"You spoil me with you." Jane replied, batting her eyes at A, who laughed in response to the image and pulled her hands forward so she was cupping Jane's cheeks. Jane responded in kind with her gloves upon A's face, and the two leaned together til they were bumping foreheads and touching noses.

"Want to stay here for a while?" A asked quietly, a hint of musk and a filter of heat over her words.

Jane was about to remind A of the work A had promised to let her get done, but when she looked into A's eyes, she found something pleading in them, not begging but a look of desire and want. A wanted her. Jane found something inside her recriprocating that desire, and the rush of endorphins overwhelmed her better sense.

"...yes. Yes I do." Jane murmured, lowering herself against A's body, letting their legs entangle, thighs stroking each other, feet hooking around each other. Lazily they embraced, taking turns kissing each other's faces and taking breathers where they just rest against each other, A's eyes usually closed.

Jane took the time to try to count A's freckles. Even that activity was somehow more stimulating than it really ought to be, like she was counting pieces of chocolate for herself. In a way, she was. A's freckles were hers now. Jane leaned down and kissed every single one.

"You've ruined brushing my teeth for me, you know." A murmured. "And mouthwash."

"How's that?" Jane asked, still kissing each individual freckle.

A laughed quietly. "You've made mint erotic for me."

"I'm glad I've turned hygiene into a turn-on for you." Jane teased, brushing A's bangs back so she could kiss A's forehead. "I wonder what else I could... _ruin_ for you."

"Wanna find out?" A asked, smiling in her earnest, eager-to-please way.

"Mm. Yes. Yes I do." Jane said, and leaned down, pressing their lips together.

They stayed like that, their hunger for each other overwhelming the need for food until they could not ignore A's stomach any longer.


	12. Chapter 12: Time

_I don't own Frozen. Stolen Ice and its characters were created by Aesla._

* * *

"That's not all, of course." Anna said to the video-call of Jane on her laptop. She snuggled backwards into her pillows, already underneath the covers when the surprise call had come through. "On Friday, I'm actually going to be hosting a poetry reading for a local high school. I've gotten a sneak preview of the poetry- don't tell anyone-" She winked at Jane, who hid a smile behind her gloves. "And it is just TERR-ible. The worst. Angst and drama and black souls. I can't wait to hear them read this stuff out loud!" Anna laughed nervously, tugging on one of her braids. "Does that make me a terrible person?"

"No, I think it means you have taste." Jane replied. "You're a terrible person for completely different reasons."

There was a jab there, unspoken, but Anna ignored it and stuck her tongue out at Jane. "Well, I doubt charity work at the local library is undoing thousand dollar thefts..." She said wishfully. "but it feels like a start, you know? I'm helping other people find their raison d'être sometimes."

"You sound very happy, A- Anna. I'm glad to see you doing so well."

"Aw, thanks." Anna gathered up a bunch of her covers and hugged them to her chest, turning to face Jane. "Although, if we're being honest... I haven't been doing that well lately, I think."

"Oh?" Jane's mask succumbed to concern, and she leaned forward into the webcam. "What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

_Do you want to talk about it? _

"Someday I'll be able to tell you how much it means to me to hear that." Anna said, quietly enough that Jane tapped her headpiece gently, indicating she hadn't quite caught that.

"Um, well, it's kind of, really embarassing to talk about. I'm not sure how to even begin talking about it." Anna laughed and bit her lip. "Um. I don't have a frame of reference for talking about it. So I'm just going to, kind of..." She made a frustrated grunt and flopped onto her back. Jane was quiet, waiting patiently, folding her hands in front of her and resting her chin on her gloves, watching Anna conservatively.

"I had a breakdown." Anna said abruptly, immediately grimacing. "Sort of. I'm not really sure what it was. I was at the library, and I was really, really tired, I hadn't slept well the night before or the night before that, and someone asked me a question and I can't remember what it was but it reminded me of... _then,_ and I just..." Anna held her hands out in front of her, frustrated. "...It got cold. Hard to breath. My heart was pounding. I sort of fell down. Just on my knees, I didn't hit anything. It felt like I was really, really far away from myself, if that makes any sense at all." Anna scoffed at herself.

"That sounds like a panic attack." Jane said, wringing her hands together in distress. "You're okay?"

"Yes! Yea. I'm fine now." Anna tried to smile reassuringly at her laptop's webcam but wasn't sure she meant it. "It lasted about ten minutes, the other librarian on duty got me into a backroom before anything dramatic happened. He sent me home but that was about it." Anna said, growing quiet. She bit her lip and furrowed her brows, thinking.

"How many times has this happened?"

Anna looked to the webcam in surprise. "I just told you about one time!"

"It's bothering you. Really bothering you. You're biting your lip and scrunching up your face."

Anna was quiet for a minute, then rolled onto her side to face her laptop and Jane, holding her blanket up to cover her body. "It's happened a few times. Never in public like that, though. I haven't told anyone yet. I'm... I'm kind of ashamed to. I kind of wish I hadn't told you."

_I need you to think I'm stronger. I need you to believe that... _

"So why did you?"

"...I wanted you to think I was stronger. I need you to believe that... but I'm through with lying and pretending things are okay if they're not." Anna sighed, reaching out and touching the laptop screen with a few fingers. Jane watched, her face difficult to read. "Look at me, though. I'm having breakdowns in public." Anna gave a sad laugh. "I thought I _was_ stronger than this. I really did. I've been moving forward and making progress, and, and I _really believed_ in myself..."

"Just because you're wounded doesn't mean you're weak, Anna. You're growing and healing. I'm very proud of you." Jane said earnestly.

"You mean that?" Anna asked like she'd just been told christmas was real, moved enough that she was squinting through tears.

"I've said it before, haven't I? It hasn't changed. I just... I thought you needed to hear it again. You've always reacted strongly that way. I mean, in the physical sense, you get emoti-"

"I know what you mean." Anna said, smiling as best as she could. A tear forced its way down her cheek, and she wiped it away quickly, hoping Jane hadn't seen it. "I know what you mean. I, um. I need to get some sleep before I start getting weepy. I'll hear from you again soon?" She asked hopefully.

"...yeah. Soon." Jane admitted, smiling. "Next time I want to tell you what I've been up to."

At that, Anna couldn't stand it anymore and extended a hand out to her screen, pressing her palm against one of the corners. Jane stared for a few moments, then the snapping of a glove came through the speakers, and Jane placed her bare hand against the screen where Anna had her hand.

"Same time?" Jane asked, knowing the answer already. They'd developed this so neither of them would have to feel the guilt of being the one to hang up first.

Anna nodded, and they both used their free hands to hover over the power buttons to the Skype chat.

"Good night, my love." Anna whispered.

"Good night, my... _Anna._ One, two..."

On three they hit the power button at the same time, the last ghostly image of each other's comforting faces in the black of the video screen.


	13. Chapter 13: Stolen Ice

_I don't own Frozen. Aesla is god._

* * *

Anna woke to the smell of bacon for the first time in three months, eyes fluttering open. She was in her bed up in the Natchitoches. Groaning, she waved her hand around, trying to find the bacon scenter on her bedside table, only to find nothing but bare wood.

"E.J., is the Iphone on your... E.J.?" Anna turned, finding her bed empty. The smell of bacon was joined with the smell of eggs and chocolate syrup. Her stomach growled dangerously. Lifting an eyebrow Anna rose from the bed, wrapping her covers around her and hooding her head to hide and battle down her bedhair.

She walked down the steps into the kitchen, brushing stray red hairs out of her face. The morning sun's glow fell upon her feet and Anna hesitated, as if the columns of light were murky depths she did not want to enter. Everything felt dream-like. She felt vulnerable. She smelled bacon.. and mint. Cautiously, yet happily, the corners of her eyes crinkling, she strode forward.

E.J. was in the kitchen, her hair braided. She was humming. There were no men with guns, no furniture upturned. Her home was just the way she had left it when she went to sleep. They were safe. They were SAFE. Together. Anna thumbed away a tear that threatened to trickle down her cheek.

_Safe._ Anna grinned crookedly. _Comrades, friends. Sisters, lovers. We are._

Anna slipped into the room unannounced and unseen, her protective cloak of comforter dragging behind her. She looked quite silly, shifting with E.J.'s movements, staying behind her and out of sight, trailing an orbit around her. E.J. had been her sun, but now Anna was a sun too, no longer some object caught in E.J.'s gravity. They were Albireo, two suns, she was one half of an equation, and Anna's orbit drew Anna closer to E,J.

_My life is brilliant. My love is pure._

When she was certain she wouldn't disturb her cooking, Anna wrapped her arms around E.J. from behind and pressed bare skin to bare skin, fingers curling into alabaster. Anna let out a "rawr!" sound and pulled Jane back into an embrace. E.J. started but stayed put and relaxed backwards into Anna, letting her sister wrap her up in a comforter.

"Ah! You got me. Clever girl." E.J. smiled.

_Where do I begin? What am I supposed to say?_

"Good morning." Anna whispered to Jane's shoulderblade, resting her head against E.J. such that she could feel the pulsating current of E.J.'s heart.

"Good morning." Jane replied, just as quiet, running one hand over Anna's. Touching her knuckles, her nails, the length of her fingers, tracing paths back towards Anna's palms and sliding fingers between fingers and squeezing. Everything was touching everything.

_Physicality._

"You're making breakfast. Bacon... and pancakes." Anna said simply, adjusting her impromptu cloak to envelople E.J's shoulders.

"Mm-hm." Jane didn't move, just relaxing in Anna's grip and embrace, letting the comforter fall over her shoulders and envelop her. "I thought- it would- I wanted to make everything... not.. perfect, but.. comfortable? A little bit of familiar, a little bit of new." She moved the pan off the burner and turned everything off, then turned around in the comforter's embrace. She took A's wrist with her, though, drawing it around her and tightening the knot it created, pressing them together and then letting Anna's hands slide away to E.J.'s back, where they pressed gently against her shoulderblades to pull her in.

"Hey, that's my shirt." Anna breathed in the scent of E.J. in her clothing and rested her hands on E.J.'s back, clasping together.

"I couldn't find mine. I figured you wouldn't mind if I stole one of yours." E.J. said with a cheeky grin.

"So what's with making breakfast? You never did that before."

"I learned." E.J. said simply, as if it were obvious. "I... thought maybe real bacon... waking you up.. ah.." E.J. fumbled over her words, looking a bit distressed. "I meant to practice saying this first..." Anna smiled in her sleepy, genuine Anna way and gently stroked the side of E.J.'s cheek.

"I want to keep you." Anna whispered, and leaned back just far enough that she could give her sister a gentle peck on the lips, an intimate morning sigh into each other, not a flight or a fall but a just existing together kiss, lips touching, muscles relaxed and inviting. Their lips parted but they didn't part from each other, not really. Even when Anna let E.J. go to finish the cooking, they were still together in that kiss. It would last them the morning.

_Anna was her girl. _

Breakfast was served on the coffee table in front of the couch, and both of them ate quietly, saying nothing, glancing at each other and trying to hide their smiles. Anna rocked gently into E.J. and stole a piece of toast; E.J. stole a kiss and snuck some of Anna's eggs onto her plate.

Anna was laughing when E.J. bit down on her neck like a porcelain tiger, and the playful energy in the room turned into a heat.

_Repeatable results._

They didn't pursue the heat, but rather basked in it lazily like lizards in the sun, enjoying the feeling of being together as they finished each other's plates.

There was much to be done, to be said, to be lived.

They had time. They stole the last few hours of morning light for themselves.


End file.
